This month, Gail Slater, Roger Alfred, and the rest of President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest in federal court that should have every American cheering. In plain terms, it slammed the media–Big Tech cartel and declared that this partnership cannot silence people who are exercising their free speech rights.
Let that sink in. After years of government pressure campaigns, algorithmic blocking, and behind-the-scenes collusion to muzzle dissent, the Trump DOJ just declared, in court, that Americans have the right to speak freely online, even if that speech makes powerful people uncomfortable.
It is a bombshell moment for free speech, and a clear sign that the Trump DOJ is doing what Biden’s DOJ never would: defending the Constitution instead of shredding it.
I speak with authority on this subject as I was one of the plaintiffs — one of the voices they tried to silence.
During the COVID pandemic, I raised basic questions about lockdowns, mandates, and the origins of the virus. For that, I got shadow-banned, censored, and blocked. Alongside others like Children’s Health Defense, founded by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Jim Hoft of The Gateway Pundit, I joined a lawsuit exposing the Trusted News Initiative (TNI), where legacy media giants like the Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, and the Associated Press banded together with Big Tech platforms like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
Their stated mission is to “combat misinformation,” but in my view, their real goal is to protect their power, influence, and media enterprises, which are worth billions of dollars.
Per the suit, Jessica Cecil — the director of the Trusted News Initiative — admitted that TNI’s members work together “in the fight against disinformation” by “agreeing” to “standards” and to a “system” making possible a suppression of news content that, individually, TNI members “couldn’t do on our own.”
Therefore, if someone expresses an opinion that challenges the government narrative on COVID-19, election integrity, or vaccine mandates, their content is labeled dangerous, their visibility throttled, and their account is shadow-banned or even de-platformed.
Thus, differing opinions were silenced, and the Biden administration applauded, showed support for the attack on free speech and was a major reason the censorship was so severe.
Remember the “Disinformation Governance Board?” Or how Biden’s team pressured Facebook to take down posts they didn’t like? Or the time they tried to label school board parents as domestic threats?
Biden’s DOJ did not defend free speech.
When the Biden DOJ was not busy censoring Americans, it was knee-deep in politically motivated lawfare.
Remember their bogus lawsuit against Visa, blaming a debit card company’s fees for Bidenflation? It was filed in a reliably liberal, anti-Trump Southern District of New York. The Biden DOJ claimed Visa was monopolizing online debit card transactions even though businesses voluntarily choose Visa. The lawsuit also ignored the fact that competition from fintech companies is continually growing and that payment volumes continue to rise across the board.
This was not the only lawfare case that bordered on satire. The Biden DOJ and Federal Trade Commission targeted victims ranging from Donald Trump to Elon Musk to John Deere, manufacturing lawsuits that often fizzled in court but served their real purpose: intimidation and control.
The Biden administration was not concerned about enforcing the law. Their true goal was to send a message to the private sector: fall in line or get hauled into court.
Thank goodness, the tide is turning.
The Trump DOJ’s court filing pulls no punches. It affirms that dissent, especially on matters of public concern, is protected speech, not a crime. It rebukes efforts to suppress views outside the mainstream as constitutionally suspect. In addition, this courageous filing marks a long-overdue end to the gaslighting campaign that treated views not endorsed by liberal media outlets like CNN or NPR as digital contraband.
This move by the Trump DOJ is not only about setting the record straight on COVID dissent. It is about the future of free thought in America.
If corporate media and tech giants get to decide what is “true” and what’s “dangerous,” the First Amendment becomes meaningless. Every American who felt silenced these past few years can celebrate that their voice matters again.
Now, let us openly embrace free speech once again.
Jeff Crouere is a political commentator and columnist. His award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and atCrouere.net.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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